NIGHTFALL
Seven years later…
San Francisco Bay area had always beautiful at night everything about it spelled romance. The white sandy rocky oceans to the starry night sky, it was so peaceful. Soon she would be leaving it all behind to follow her dreams. At twenty-four she had the strength and time to do what she wanted. She decided to pace her life and not miss out on anything.
Scarlet McKyle and Kayla Turner were out for a night of fun. They had just done their finals, soon they would join the world of the working, but now they would have their fun. Scarlet thought of the day’s earlier events, graduation was beautiful. The day she and her parents looked forward to since she had first joined university. Kayla’s mother and grandmother were there but her father wasn’t around much. Her parents divorced when she was five but still visited her from time to time. She had always made a fuss about it until that day. The day Scarlet’s parents died Kayla appreciated every call and all the scolding she got from her parents.
Scarlet had taken a major in psychology she wanted to help children who had suffered the same loss she did. A grief counselor, she understood all too well about grief. She knew in her heart that her parents were proud of her. She worked hard to make them proud though at times it felt ridiculous trying to please the dead. All her successes were due to her parent’s sacrifices and dedication. They always did everything together like Siamese twins that were why she was glad when they had died together. She didn’t think one could live without the other. It all worked out in the end, she had graduated top of her class and now the world was her playing field.
Kayla’s grandmother and mother threw a party on behalf of the two graduates. It was more than she had expected. She had always known that Kayla’s family took her as one of their own. They had been friends for the past four years. She held her hand when she watched the two coffins with her parent’s bodies as it was lowered into the ground. She was her best friend and a sister to her.
They had held the party in their little home on Russian hill Lombard Street. The houses there were a bit costly but she was comfortable there. Besides, she and Kayla had jobs and could pay for their necessities. Scarlet’s parents had also been kind enough to give her some money which she received in instalments from the executioner of the will.
She chose Lombard Street because it was far enough from where she lived with her parents but not too far, also because the house reminded her of the home she shared with her parents. Scarlet travelled to San Jose occasionally to visit their graves, and even when she tried, she could not run away from that part of her life no matter how far she chose to go.
Scarlet had applied for a Psychology internship in Washington, she hoped to get it. She needed a change of scenery but she still knew she would have to come back in October. She looked over to her friend an aspiring journalist hoping to work at the Washington Post. They went everywhere together as long as the universe allowed it. Kayla was a bloodhound and her sassy attitude favoured the career path she had chosen.
Although people thought she was better suited as a lawyer, the one thing they didn’t know was that she resented them. She blamed them for being instrumental in her parents’ divorce. Some of her opinions and beliefs were absurd but no one dared to challenge them.
They walked into the darkness headed towards the next spot. Kayla loved club hopping and tonight Scarlet was indulging her every whim.
Kayla was five foot six with ebony skin and curly hair. Her long legs held up a curvaceous body, her luscious lips and brown cat-like eyes made her look like a goddess. Scarlet always thought that they had a huge contrast between them. Kayla was beautiful and confident in her beauty and she was shy and reserved. They were the same height and resembled in all but some of their features. Her white pale skin, her thin lips, her long straight brunette hair, and the hazel color of her eyes. She lacked the confidence and presence that her friend easily commanded.
Scarlet had her guard up, strolling at night was not one of her favorite things to do. Two beautiful girls walking the dark lonely street seemed like tempting the fates. Martial arts were not something she had at her fingertips, but she had a can of pepper spray. She was doubtful it would hold up against a psychopathic killer but when she felt it in her purse she was comforted.
An eerie feeling crept up on her. She turned to look back a couple of times, it was like someone or something was following them. When she saw nothing she passed it off as her usual paranoia.
***
Stephan had taken to attacking unsuspecting drunks in the dark. Now he had his target’s insight, feeding on the two girls would last him a week. They were a bit petite but they would do. Planning his course of action, he decided to start with the black girl she talked to too much, and finish with the white one she looked timid and wouldn’t fight him. Not that she could wrestle him off anyway. He needed an easy kill and they were it.
He wondered why the white girl kept looking back, it was as if she knew he was as there.
Whatever, it didn’t matter to him much. With a snarl, he flashed before them, his lips pulled back as he bared his teeth, but stopped. The look in her eyes, her hazel eyes pulled him into them. Though their eyes weren’t the same he could see Sotera’s gentle nature in them.
He noticed her chest wasn’t moving. The function of her lungs ceased not allowing her the air she needed to scream. But the other one found her voice. “What do you want? Money, here take it!” She threw her purse at him. “Just take it, please don’t hurt us!”
Stephan paid no attention to the other girl, she was screaming something at him but he couldn’t take his attention from the one standing before him. She was petite, couldn’t be more than five foot six. Compared to him she was like a child. Way over six foot three, his body was the size of three human men combined. He lifted his hand to stroke her cheek his senses pleading to touch her but froze mid-air. He couldn’t go through with it. Unable to bring himself to hurt her he turned and walked away.
***
“What a freak! What was he doing? Checking us out or what?” Kayla snarled, her newfound bravery replacing the fear that had gripped her a heartbeat ago.
Scarlet turned to look at her friend. They had to get out of there as fast as possible. “Let’s get a cab and get out of here! Now! Kayla!” She shrieked out the order. “Pick up your purse and let’s go before more weirdoes come out.”
“Where did he come from? One second there was nothing, and then whoosh!” Kayla used her hands to gesture the wind. “There he was. He just appeared in front of us.”
“Yeah, I know.” What could she do but agree with her best friend? She hadn’t seen him approach them. Scarlet felt relaxed in the comfort and safety of her home.
“This city is full of crazy people. Crazies, they should just be picked up and thrown into some mental facility, right Scarlet?”
Her hysterics were met by silence. “Scarlet! Scarlet are you paying attention to me. Now is not the time to be disappearing into your head.”
“I hear you Kayla, crazy people. I heard you.” Scarlet didn’t understand it. “He took nothing. Did you notice how he stared at me? It was as if he….. cared.”
Kayla turned her whole body to look at her. “What! Are you serious? Do you think he wanted to have a conversation with you? Take you out to dinner so that you could talk about your future babies!” She touched the back of her hand to Scarlet’s forehead as if checking for her temperature. “Sweetie, are you feeling okay? Are. You. Crazy!”
“No, seriously K!” Scarlet pushed her hand away and got up to stand at the other side of the room away from her friend’s glaring eyes. “He looked right into my eyes. It was like he wanted to touch me. Stroke my cheek even. Do you understand what I am saying?” She looked at the expression on her friend’s face. She knew at that moment that if she could she would have her in a strait jacket on her way to the nuthouse.
“Sure I do honey. He was going to touch you.” Kayla’s smile turned into a scowl as her voice rose. “He was going to wrap his hands around your neck and kill you. He was going to choke the life out of you. And he was going to watch you die. That’s not affection. He’s crazy. Do you hear me? Crazy.”
Scarlet lost track of what her friend was saying. Kayla always blew things out of proportion. Such an active and inventive imaginative mind she had. But Scarlet knew what she saw. Or did she imagine it? She didn’t understand why she felt pity for the stranger. Maybe she was losing her mind.
“Scar, are you sure you are ok?” Scarlet saw the look of concern on Kayla’s face.
“Am cool K. It’s just been a long day. I just need some downtime, you know, unwind soak in a hot bath, paint my toenails, and watch a chick flick. That kind of thing. Don’t worry about me am fine.” she murmured, all the while trying to make sense of the swirly of emotions in the pits of her belly.
She turned the tap on to fill the bathtub. Once she had put in all the bath salts that she needed she stepped into the bath. A feeling of relaxation enveloped her as the water rushed around her. It had been one of the strangest nights she had. She wouldn’t think about it now. But that was exactly what she ended up doing.
***
Stephan didn’t understand what had happened. Why did she affect him that way? She was a stranger just like every other victim. There was something about her, something about the way she looked at him. He walked into the cave that he called home. The darkness that enveloped him, comforting. If he didn’t need sustenance he would never leave.
He lived above the garage he worked at. His apartment was empty. It was a bed-sitter. The king-size bed and the clothes that hang in his wardrobe was all that he needed. Besides the bed came with the room, all that he could call he were the two pairs of black jeans and the five black and white muscle T-shirts.
He tried the lights and nothing.
Snap!
He hadn’t paid his electric bill. He had only focused on paying Sotera’s rent. It had already been seven years since her death. He could not find the strength to let the apartment go. The apartment was five minutes away from his home. That was as far as he would allow himself to be away from her. Five minutes. The apartment and the ashes were the only things he had left of her. He lived his life as a zombie, confined to three places, his place of employment, his crappy apartment, and his shrine, Sotera’s apartment.
Nothing appealed to him anymore, there was no doubt that he took pleasure in destroying what she loved to protect. Her love for preserving human life was absurd from the beginning he knew he would go back to his true nature. Now he was slowly getting there, he just needed to sink a little deeper into the darkness. He was not going to fight it, he would embrace it wholly.
He had no friends or family, everyone he knew and loved died back in the eighteen hundred’s. But he did have someone. The accurate term would be had. Solara, Sotera’s younger brother. They hadn’t spoken since her death. He blamed him for his sister’s death. Stephan knew that he would never forgive him, she was the only family he had. She died because of him. In that second the Conselho had taken everything from him.
He took his customary position at the window and stared out. At times he would do this till dawn. He looked out at the world thinking about how it had changed the last few centuries. Tomorrow he would be back at the chop shop, enduring his boss. He chuckled under his breath if only he knew that he could snap him in half with just one try.
The sun would rise in a while. It was time to go about like any other human. Wanting things they didn’t need, ignoring the fact that there was something out there greater than they were.
He thought of his life before he met Marquis, he was happy. Deception and greed had gotten him in this mess. He was promised all the riches that he wanted ultimate power and gifts that only existed amongst the supernatural. He peeked into a life he thought he could live without. It was too late now, he had gotten his wish and now what he deserved.
***
Scarlet stirred in her bed, she was back at the Warf, the tall stranger stood before her. She couldn’t help but notice his beautiful body. He must have been six foot three or more, his muscled physique screamed for attention under the white T-Shirt. She wanted to touch him, to run her hands over his body, to dig her fingers into his hair. They were spinning around in mid-air, arms around each other. Then it stopped, they stood still facing each other. Holding hands. His eyes mesmerized her, they were…